34 Cases Of Plagiarism At W&m In The Past Three Years

October 23, 2007|By SHAWN DAY, sday@dailypress.com 247-4816

WILLIAMSBURG — In the past three years, the Honor Council at the College of William and Mary has heard 34 cases involving allegations of plagiarism. Two students have been expelled, and nine have been suspended indefinitely. Another 17 were suspended for varying periods of time, according to university spokesman Brian Whitson.

Most of the plagiarism cases, according to Sam Sadler, vice president for student affairs, were "relating to the Internet."

"There's this notion that if it's on the 'Net, it's fair game, it's in the public realm and you don't have to cite it," Sadler said. "Obviously that's not true... Just because it's on the Internet doesn't mean it doesn't need to be cited as a source."

To catch - and to deter -those instances of plagiarism, W&M professors are among instructors across the country who are using www.turnitin.com, which offers a fee-based software program that compares students' work with a database of documents, Sadler said.

Hampton University used to use the service but dropped it due to a lack of favorable responses among faculty, according to spokeswoman Yuri Rodgers Milligan.

She said the university has not expelled any students in the past three years for plagiarism.

The number of plagiarism cases at Christopher Newport University also was not immediately available.